It’s hard enough to get into college when the playing field is even, but what about when it’s not? This recent article posted in the New York Times Choice Blog, details how over 25% of students accepted to University of Illinois from 2005 to 2009 were admitted due to the intervention of politicians and major donors.

In one example, "Rep. Angelo 'Skip' Saviano, a veteran lawmaker with influential friends in both parties, asked U. of I.’s lobbyists to check on the application of a relative of then-local Teamsters leader Robert Hogan, whose union had donated more than $12,000 to Saviano’s election campaigns in the decade before the admissions request." Thankfully, the secret admissions process has been done away with, and the university is attempting to weed out corruption moving forward.